The Royal Gorge

*warning - many photos*

Saturday morning the girls got up earlier than we would like, so Brandon took them to get donuts. It was nice to get ready without interruptions. :)

After breakfast we made the hour drive to the Royal Gorge.  We ate lunch at Pizza Hut and then went to the bridge. It was just the right thing for our family; it entertained us all, and Dave and Sarena hadn't been there for years, so it was something different for them, too.

Here's the bridge; we walked across it two times. It took me a bit of time to get used to the swaying moving, especially when cars drove over it.

 Starting the 1/4 mile walk across the bridge

 We spent a lot of  time looking at the beautiful scenery, and the men also liked looking at the construction of the bridge. The background made for good pictures...

 This sign made me laugh.

 According to Sadie, this was the "choo-choo in the air."

Sadie got down to look through the cracks. What a girl.

 Brandon had the camera...

 When we got to the other side, the girls enjoyed a petting zoo, and Maisie got a ride on the donkey, Blueberry.

 Analise loved the big elk! A quick funny - when we first saw the elk, I said to Maisie, "Look at the antelope. What does Antelope start with?" She answered, "A." Very good! Then Analise pipes up, "Except that they are elk mom."  Oh yea....I laughed so hard.

 The men gave the girls' legs a break for awhile.

 We took this tram down to the river at the bottom of the gorge.

 While we waited in line, we enjoyed watching several hummingbirds.

Analise next to the Arkansas River

Before we left, we took a little train ride. It was worth the two bandaids Sadie's knees required from her excitement in getting to the train.

We left the Gorge five hours later and enjoyed a Mexican meal at a local restaurant. We had so much fun today!  We enjoyed our time with Dave and Sarena - thank you SO much for helping with the girls and having fun with us. We have talked about this day many times, and each time we are so glad we were able to experience it with both of you!